Driving in the USA: A Visitor’s Guide

Driving the USA is, to our minds, the best way to see the country. It is by far our favourite way to explore it, and we have driven thousands of miles here, from Route 66 to the Oregon Trail to the Deep South.

That might mean exploring a single state like California, driving a classic route like Route 66, or taking on a section of the Pacific Coast Highway. However you do it, hitting the open road here is a real pleasure: it is a car-friendly country, with big, well-maintained roads, clear signage, and no shortage of places worth driving to.

Here is what makes this guide a little different from the others you will find. I have driven in the US from both sides of a line most visitors never cross. For years I drove here purely as a tourist, on a UK licence and later a French one, renting cars and working out the quirks as I went. Then we moved here, I became a US resident, and I had to sit and pass the American driving test myself, which is not something most visitors will ever need to worry about.

So I have a fair idea of which unfamiliar bits actually matter on a two-week trip, and which only sink in once you live here. I also have an American wife, Jess, who learnt to drive in the US and has been on hand throughout to help me. By which I mean yell, when I am doing something wrong.

I love driving in the US. Coming from the UK, though, there were a good few things I had to learn before I felt comfortable, and a couple that caught me out completely. This guide covers all of them. It is written mainly from the perspective of a foreign visitor, but it should help anyone driving in America for the first time, or anyone who just wants a refresher.

 

Driving in the USA at a Glance

If you are about to pick up a rental car and want the short version, here it is:

• You drive on the right-hand side of the road.
• A full, valid driving licence from your home country lets you both drive and rent a car. If your licence is not in English, add an International Driving Permit. Carrying one is a good idea even if your licence is in English.
• Most rental companies require you to be at least 21, and charge a young-driver surcharge if you are under 25.
• You can turn right on a red light almost everywhere, as long as you stop first and give way. New York City is the one big exception.
• The things that feel strangest at first are four-way stop signs, interstate exit numbers that jump around, and pumping and paying for your own gas.
• Distances are big. A drive that looks short on the map can still take a couple of hours, so build in more time than you think you need.

 

Which kind of driver are you?

Not everyone reading this needs the same advice. Most of what follows applies to everyone, but a few things depend on why you are driving in the US in the first place. Three rough profiles cover most people.

If you are here for a two-week road trip on a foreign licence, you are the most common case. You can drive on your home licence for the length of a normal tourist visit, you will be renting rather than buying, and your main jobs are sorting out your insurance and getting comfortable with a handful of US-specific rules before you collect the car. The car-hire and rules sections below are written with you in mind.

If you are here for longer, on a big multi-month trip, a working stint or a study year, the same licence rules still get you on the road, but you should check the law in the specific state you will be based in. Some states expect longer-term residents to get a local licence within a set period, even if they are not formally immigrating. An International Driving Permit also becomes more useful the longer you stay.

If you have just moved to the US, you are in my old position. At some point you will need a state driver’s license, which means a written test and usually a road test too, and the rules stop being trivia and start being the exam. The good news is that the test is very passable, and a few weeks of normal driving teaches you most of it. The rest of this guide doubles as a gentle primer.

 

What Catches First-Time Drivers Out

After thousands of miles and one US driving test, here are the things that surprised me most. None of them is hard. They are just unfamiliar, and knowing about them in advance takes most of the sting out. Each one gets its own section further down.

Four-way stops were the big one. At a junction where every approach has a stop sign, there are no lights and no roundabout. Priority simply goes to whoever stopped first. It works smoothly once you trust it, but the first few are slow and polite and slightly anxious. The trick is to watch who arrives, take your turn when it comes, and not overthink it.

Exit numbers threw me for weeks. On the interstate, exit numbers are usually based on mileage rather than sequence, so you can go from exit 280 to exit 290 with nothing in between. Coming from the UK, where exits count one, two, three, I was convinced I kept missing exits. Jess eventually worked out what was going on, and it was a small revelation.

Turning right on a red light feels deeply wrong the first few times. You treat the red light like a stop sign, stop fully, and turn right if it is clear. Then it becomes second nature, and the driver behind you will expect you to do it.

Pumping your own gas is simple enough in itself, but there is a wrinkle for foreign visitors. Many pumps ask for a zip code linked to your card, and a non-US card often will not work. We come back to that below.

And the speed limit creeps. American scenery is a real distraction, and on a long downhill with a view it is easy to drift over the limit without noticing. I have a Yosemite speeding stop to prove it. US limits are enforced, national parks very much included.

 

How Driving in the US Differs From Back Home

The single most useful thing to understand about driving in the US is that there is no one set of rules. There are two layers of law. Federal law applies across the whole country. State law is set by each individual state, and most of the traffic rules you actually care about, things like speed limits, drink-driving limits, phone use and the precise rules for child seats, are state law. They vary, sometimes a lot, as you cross a state line.

That sounds harder than it is in practice. The core of driving is the same everywhere, and the variation is mostly in the detail. A few things are country-wide:

• You drive on the right-hand side of the road. The only exception in the US is the US Virgin Islands.
• You need a valid driver’s license to drive, and to rent a car.
• You must observe the posted speed limits. The limits themselves are set by each state, so they change as you travel.
• You must not drive over the drink-driving limit. In almost every state that is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, with one stricter exception we cover below.
• You must stop at every STOP sign, and stop for any school bus that has stopped with its red lights flashing. Even if it’s on the other side of the road.
• At a minimum the driver and front-seat passenger must wear a seatbelt. Most states require every occupant to belt up, and it is simplest to assume that is the rule.

None of that will surprise anyone who already drives. Just remember that the detail beneath those headlines shifts at every state line.

 

Renting a Car as a Visitor

For most visitors, driving in the US means renting. The process is easy once you know the ground rules, and most of the friction comes from two places: insurance, and fees you did not see coming.

 

Can you drive on a foreign licence?

Yes. If you hold a full, valid driving licence from your home country, you can drive in the US and rent a car on it for the length of a normal visit. You do not need a US licence as a tourist.

There is one thing to sort before you travel. Some rental companies want your licence to be in English, so if yours is not, you may need an International Driving Permit (IDP) or a certified translation. Both must be obtained in your home country before you leave, as the US does not issue IDPs to visitors, and an IDP only works alongside your original licence, never on its own.

If your licence is not in English, get the IDP even where it is not strictly required. It also helps if you are pulled over, or run into any other issue on the road. For what it is worth, I rented cars in the US for years on a French driving licence, and the companies I used did not ask for an English translation. I would still check the rental conditions for your specific booking rather than assume. The AA has a clear explainer on the IDP if you want the detail.

 

Age Limits for Renting and Driving

The age at which you can drive alone on a full licence is set by the state, and falls somewhere between 16 and 18. As a visitor that rarely matters, because the rental companies set their own, stricter limits.

Most rental companies will not rent to you at all under 21, and almost all charge a young-driver surcharge if you are under 25. That surcharge is not trivial. Depending on the company and the state, it currently runs somewhere around $20 to $40 a day, which adds up fast over a two-week trip. Under-25 drivers also often cannot rent the larger or more premium vehicles.

There is usually no upper age limit in the US, but if you are over 70, a quick call to confirm is sensible, as a small number of locations and some non-US markets do apply one. If you want the full picture, there is a state-by-state breakdown of driving ages worth a look.

 

Insurance, and How Not to Overpay

Most US states require car insurance, and rental insurance is where visitors most often overpay. There are two main types. Liability insurance covers other people and their property if you cause an accident, and almost every state requires it by law. Collision or damage insurance covers the car you are driving, and is generally optional, though for a rental you really want both, because repair bills here can be eye-watering.

The expensive trap is buying that cover at the rental desk, where it is marked up heavily. Two cheaper routes are worth checking first. Some credit cards include rental car collision cover as a perk, so find one that does and you can decline the desk’s collision product. Your own car insurance at home may also extend to a US rental, so check your existing policy as well.

One important catch. If you are covered through a credit card or your home policy, you usually have to actively decline the rental company’s coverage for your own cover to apply. Be very clear about how you are covered, and for what, before you sign. If neither route works for you, third-party standalone rental insurance offers similar cover for a fraction of the desk price, and MoneySavingExpert explains how that works. NerdWallet has a good overview of state insurance requirements if you want to understand the minimums.

To hire a vehicle you will normally need to pay with a credit card, and many companies place a hold on the card for a fixed amount to cover them in the event of an accident. Factor that hold into your available credit while you are travelling.

 

One-Way Fees, and Why Your Rental Can Suddenly Cost More

Here is the fee that catches people out, and it comes straight from a reader question. If you pick a car up in one city and drop it off in another, say collect in Las Vegas and leave it in Los Angeles, many companies charge a one-way fee, sometimes called a drop-off fee. On some routes it is modest. On others it is large enough to rival the cost of the rental itself.

It exists because the company now has a car sitting in the wrong place and has to get it back. The fee is unpredictable. It depends on the company, the two locations, and how badly they want cars moved on that route. The practical advice is simple. If your trip can start and end in the same city, a round-trip rental almost always works out cheaper. If it does need to be one-way, get a one-way quote early, before you have committed to the rest of the itinerary, so the fee is a known number rather than a surprise at the desk.

 

Comparing Prices and Where to Book

When you are ready to book, we recommend starting with Discover Cars to compare car hire deals across a wide range of providers, including all the big names. It is the quickest way to see what a fair price looks like for your dates.

We have also used Enterprise many times and happily recommend them. They often come up with the best deals for us, and in our experience are one of the better options for one-way trips, which is part of why we keep going back to them.

If you would rather rent a campervan or motorhome, we would start with Motorhome Republic, which compares campervan and RV prices across a range of rental providers.

 

The Rules of the Road

The day-to-day rules of driving in the US will feel familiar to anyone who already drives. A handful of them work differently enough to be worth a closer look, and they are gathered here.

 

Traffic Lights

Traffic lights work as they do almost everywhere: red, yellow, green. The one habit worth checking is yellow, which means stop at the line if you can do so safely. If you are already too close to stop comfortably you may continue, but do not treat a yellow light as a cue to accelerate.

Two things take a day or two to get used to. US traffic lights often hang on wires across the centre of the junction rather than sitting on posts at the kerb. And one US-specific rule, turning right on a red light, gets its own section just below.

 

Speed Limits

Speed limits are posted in miles per hour and vary by both road type and state, so there is no single number to remember. Some roads also carry a posted minimum as well as a maximum. Across the country, limits run from around 15 mph in school zones up to 85 mph on one stretch of toll road in Texas, State Highway 130 near Austin, which currently has the highest posted limit in the US.

The only sensible approach is to follow the posted signs and get a feel for the usual limit for each road type. Wikipedia keeps a full breakdown of speed limits by state. And do take them seriously: US limits are enforced, and as I found out, national parks are not the place to let your speed drift.

 

Stop Signs

Stop signs were a source of much confusion for me when I first drove in the US. Not the stopping, which is obvious enough, but the way stop signs are used at junctions to decide priority.

The principle is simple. Where two roads cross, the junction has four entry points. In the UK that would be a roundabout or a set of lights. In the US it is often a set of stop signs, and priority goes to whoever arrives and stops first.

That only holds if it is an all-way stop, meaning every approach has a stop sign. Sometimes it is not: only your road stops, and the cross traffic has right of way. You have to check, because the two situations need completely different things from you. Usually the sign itself tells you, with a small plate beneath the STOP sign reading “ALL WAY” or “4-WAY”, or noting that cross traffic does not stop.

A busy four-way, or even five-way, stop can be hard to track at first, with everyone quietly working out who got there when. With a bit of practice it becomes second nature. If in doubt, wait a moment. And if two of you arrive together at the same instant, the car on the left yields to the car on the right. In all cases I would pull away gently and stay ready to brake, even when you are sure it is your turn.

 

Turning Right on a Red Light

This is one of the more unusual US rules, and one of the most useful once it clicks. At a red light you are generally allowed to turn right, as long as no sign forbids it. Treat the red light exactly like a stop sign. Approach with your indicator on, come to a full stop at the line, check for traffic and for pedestrians crossing, and if it is clear, make the turn. Pedestrians with a walk signal have right of way.

Where there is a dedicated right-turn lane, use it for the turn. The rule feels wrong the first few times, because everything you learned at home says a red light means do not move. It pays to get comfortable with it quickly, though, because on a busy junction the drivers behind you are expecting you to go, and will not be shy about letting you know if you do not.

The big exception is New York City. In New York City, turning right on red is banned by default, and only allowed where a sign specifically permits it, which is the reverse of the rest of the country. This applies across all five boroughs of New York City. Note that this is New York City specifically, and not New York State. Drive upstate and the normal turn-on-red rule applies again. Either way, we would suggest not driving in New York City at all if you can avoid it. Our guide to getting around New York City lays out the better options.

Most US states also allow a left turn on a red light in one narrow case: when you are turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street. A small number of states do not permit it, so as with right on red, check for a sign forbidding it before you make the turn.

 

Passing Other Vehicles

Passing, or overtaking, works much as it does elsewhere. On a normal two-way road you may pass where the centre line is broken, white or yellow, and where it is safe to do so.

On multi-lane highways, slower traffic keeps right and faster traffic passes on the left, and as a rule you should only be in the left lanes to pass. The picture gets blurrier on the very wide highways, the ten- and twelve-lane stretches around big cities. In some states, on highways with more than two lanes each way, passing on either side is legal, so if you are not in the far right lane you have to expect to be passed on both sides. In practice I have seen drivers pass on the right even on roads with just two lanes each way. My advice is to pass on the left wherever you can, unless you are sure passing on the right is legal in the state you are in. There is an overview of which states allow passing on the right if you want to check.

 

US Road Types and Exit Numbers

It helps to know what kind of road you are on, because the type tells you roughly what to expect for speed, junctions and surface quality. In our experience, US roads fall into a few broad categories.

 

Interstate Roads

As the name suggests, an Interstate runs across state lines, and it is the closest equivalent to a UK motorway or a German autobahn. Interstates have at least two lanes in each direction, and use on-ramps and off-ramps rather than stop signs or traffic lights. An Interstate keeps the same number across every state it passes through. Interstate 40, for example, runs through eight states and is called I-40 in all of them. Maximum speeds vary by state, roughly 60 to 80 mph, and are clearly posted.

 

State Roads

A state road, sometimes called a state highway or state route, belongs to a single state, so State Route 54 in one state is a different road entirely from State Route 54 in another. They range from dual-carriageway-style highways down to single-lane roads, and because they run through towns, cities and villages, the speed limit can swing from as low as 20 mph up to 75 mph. As ever, check the local rules and follow the posted signs.

 

County Roads

A county road is any road maintained by the local county authority, rather than by the state or federal system. These tend to be smaller, slower roads, and carry a “C” or “CR” designation followed by a number. Quality varies enormously, from near-freeway standard right down to unpaved gravel, depending on the area, the traffic and the local county budget. Speed limits vary just as much.

 

Interstate Exit Numbers

Here is the one that flummoxed me coming from the UK. At home, motorway exit numbers are sequential, so exit 2 follows exit 1, and so on. On a US interstate, exit numbers are usually based on how many miles you have travelled along that interstate. Pass exit 280, and if the next exit is ten miles further on, it will be exit 290.

It is a sensible system once you understand it, because the number tells you instantly how far away the next exit is. But it confused me for weeks, because I was expecting a neat sequence and was convinced I kept missing exits. It was Jess who finally pointed out what was going on, after we had been driving for weeks, and it was quite the revelation. One caveat a reader added in the comments: some states do still use sequential exit numbers, so do not assume mileage-based numbering everywhere.

 

Buying Gas in the US

Most cars in the US, rental cars included, run on unleaded petrol, known here simply as “gas” or “unleaded gas”. Diesel exists, but is mostly a truck and large-vehicle fuel, so many pumps at ordinary gas stations do not carry it. Before you drive off the rental lot, check what your car takes, unleaded or diesel, and whether it wants a particular grade, as some engines call for premium unleaded with a higher octane rating.

Buying fuel is, in most cases, a simple process. Almost every pump has a card reader: you pre-authorise your card, fill the tank, and are billed for what you used. These stations often sell fuel around the clock, even when the shop is closed. You only need to go inside to pay cash or pay by card at the counter, in which case you name an amount first, pay it, fill up, and reclaim any overpayment afterwards.

There is one snag that catches foreign visitors specifically. Many pumps ask for the zip code linked to your card’s billing address before they will dispense fuel, and a non-US card with a non-US address often will not work. When that happens, you pay inside instead, either handing over cash or paying by card at the counter.

For years, the well-known exception to all of this was the handful of states where you were not allowed to pump your own gas at all. That list has now shrunk to one. New Jersey is the only US state that still bans self-service, so there an attendant fills the tank for you. You simply tell them how much you want and which grade. Oregon used to have a similar rule, but repealed it in 2023, so New Jersey now stands alone. Tipping the attendant is not expected.

One last tip. Gas prices vary a lot from state to state. If you are crossing state lines, it can be worth timing a fill-up for the cheaper side of the border. An app like GasBuddy helps you find the best local prices.

 

Drink Driving, Phones, School Buses and Child Seats

This is the cluster of rules where the penalties are steepest and the law varies most from state to state. None of it is complicated, but it is the part of driving in the US where it pays to know the rules rather than guess.

 

Drink Driving

The legal limit for blood alcohol content is 0.08 percent in almost every US state. There is one exception. Utah lowered its limit to 0.05 percent at the end of 2018, making it the strictest in the country. Commercial drivers face a lower limit again, 0.04 percent, nationwide, and for drivers under 21 any detectable alcohol at all can be an offence under “zero tolerance” laws.

There is no reliable amount of drink that keeps you under the limit, as it depends on weight, height, metabolism, what you have eaten and more. The simple answer is not to drink at all if you are driving. In many states you can be charged even under the BAC limit if the officer judges you to be impaired. Penalties are also stiffer, and can include a separate child-endangerment charge, if you are carrying children as passengers. Penalties vary by state, but the short version is: do not do it.

 

Mobile Phone Use

This one should not need saying: do not use your phone while driving. It is dangerous and distracting, and the tickets are expensive.

The law itself varies by state. Some states ban all hand-held phone use at the wheel, some ban texting and browsing but allow calls, and a few have no restriction at all. Wikipedia has a full state-by-state run-down. Whatever the local rule, the sensible move is to set up your route before you pull away, and leave the phone alone once you are moving.

 

School Buses

The rules around school buses surprised me on my first US trip, because they are stricter than anything I had met before. School buses are easy to spot, bright yellow and usually clearly marked.

When a school bus stops to pick up or drop off children, traffic must stop. The bus extends a STOP sign arm and flashes red lights, and at that point all traffic must stop, including traffic coming the other way. Many states make an exception for oncoming traffic where the road is divided, but what counts as divided varies, and some states require you to stop even then. You wait until the bus finishes and moves off.

The exact rules, including how far back you must stop, vary by state, so check locally. The NHTSA has an overview of the rules on passing school buses to get you started. Take this one seriously, because the penalties for getting it wrong are heavy.

 

Driving With Children

If you are driving with children, there are extra rules, and again they are set by the state. Most states require a child to be in a child safety seat, a booster seat, or an adult seatbelt depending on their weight and size, and some also regulate where the seat goes, such as rear seat only, or forward-facing versus rear-facing. The GHSA has a breakdown of the child-seat requirements by state.

On smoking, it is not generally illegal to smoke in a car with a child present in the US, though some states have brought in or are trialling such a ban, and this list tracks where. Worth knowing separately: many US rental companies do not allow smoking in their cars at all, and will charge a mandatory cleaning fee if you do.

 

What to Do If You Get Pulled Over

In a worst-case scenario, you commit a traffic violation and get pulled over by the police. You can be stopped for all sorts of reasons, from driving over the posted speed limit through to dangerous driving or a light not working on your vehicle.

If a police vehicle signals you to pull over, which is obvious enough as it will be right behind you with its lights flashing, pull over as soon as it is safe. Then stay in the car, hands on the wheel and seatbelt fastened. Open your window, and if it is dark, turn on the interior lights. Do not get out, do not hide your hands, and do not unfasten your seatbelt. Stay seated and wait for the officer to come to you.

I have to admit that I was stopped once in the US for going over the posted speed limit. In my defence, we had just arrived in Yosemite National Park, the views were glorious, and my speed crept over the limit as we coasted downhill without me paying attention to it.

Unfortunately, the park ranger behind me was paying attention to my speed, so he pulled me over very quickly. Jess was not hugely impressed with me either.

When we stopped, the ranger came up to the car and asked if I knew why he had stopped me. The best response here is to say that you do not know, because otherwise you are incriminating yourself. Since I was not that quick-thinking, I asked if I had been going too fast. This was affirmed, and I was then asked various questions, and asked to provide my driving licence, vehicle registration and ID. As I am foreign, I was of course driving in the USA on a foreign licence, so that came up too.

I was also asked if I had been drinking or had taken any drugs, and whether there were any weapons in the car. The answer was truthfully no to all of these.

Thankfully, in my case, the ranger chatted cordially with me about why I might have been going too fast, and my confession of being distracted by the scenery on the downward slope was enough to get me out of a ticket. One thing to be aware of: since we were on US federal property, where fines and violation penalties are often a lot higher, I had been lucky. The same higher penalties apply in construction zones.

You might not be so lucky, in which case your best option is to stay polite, and if you feel the ticket was unfair, you can contest it in traffic court later. If you know you were in violation, you can simply pay it and move on, so you do not end up with a record. For lots more on how to behave when pulled over, your rights, and what to do if you are arrested for any reason, take a look at this wikiHow article.

 

Final Thoughts on Driving in the USA

My final thought on driving in the USA is not to lose sight of why you are on the road in the first place, which is most likely to see the country and enjoy the views. So take it easy, do not rush, pick some great road trip music, and try to keep your driving to daylight hours where you can, so you actually get to see the scenery you came for. Have a brilliant time out there.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About Driving in the USA

 

Can I drive in the USA on a foreign or UK driving licence?

Yes. If you hold a full, valid driving licence from your home country, you can drive in the US, and rent a car, for the length of a normal tourist visit. You do not need a US licence.

If your licence is not written in English, some rental companies will want an International Driving Permit or a certified translation alongside it. Sort that out in your home country before you travel, as the US does not issue these to visitors.

 

Do I need an International Driving Permit to drive in the US?

Not always, but it is sensible to carry one. An International Driving Permit is needed mainly when your home licence is not in English, and some states and rental companies ask for it.

You have to get the IDP in your home country before you leave, and it only works alongside your original licence, not on its own. Even where it is not strictly required, carrying one makes life easier if you are pulled over.

 

Is it hard to drive in the USA as a foreign visitor?

No, not really. The US is a car-friendly country with big, well-signed roads, and most visitors settle in within a day or two. Driving is on the right, and the core rules are much the same as anywhere.

The bits that feel unfamiliar are specific and few: four-way stop signs, turning right on a red light, interstate exit numbers based on mileage, and the sheer size of the place. Read up on those before you collect your car, and the rest looks after itself.

 

Which side of the road do you drive on in the USA?

You drive on the right-hand side of the road throughout the US. The one exception is the US Virgin Islands, where traffic drives on the left.

If you are used to driving on the left at home, the first hour feels strange, especially at junctions. It does click quickly. Take it slowly when you pull out of a car park or turn into a new road, as those are the moments the old habit tends to resurface.

 

Can you turn right on a red light in the USA?

In most of the US, yes. You can turn right on a red light as long as no sign forbids it. Stop fully first, give way to traffic and to pedestrians, then turn.

The major exception is New York City, where turning right on red is banned unless a sign specifically allows it. That rule applies across all five boroughs, but not to New York State as a whole, so drive upstate and the normal turn-on-red rule is back.

 

Further Reading and Resources for Driving in the USA

That was a lot of ground to cover, and I cannot fit everything into one post, so here are some resources to take you further:

• The US Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has a comprehensive list of road rules, traffic signs and signals on a per-state basis, available here.
• The US government has a page specifically on driving in the US for non-citizens.
• You are also going to want somewhere to drive. Here is some inspiration to help you:
  • We have a guide to a USA Deep South road trip itinerary, which includes New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Savannah.
  • We have a two week California road trip itinerary, as well as a guide to driving the Pacific Coast Highway.
  • We have a full guide to Route 66, as well as photos from every state along the route, a detailed two week Route 66 itinerary and a one week Route 66 itinerary.
  • We have lots more content on the USA as well. Check out the USA section of the site for more resources.
  • Looking for more road trip inspiration? Check out our guide to the world’s best road trips for more ideas.
• If you are looking to plan your budget, check out our guide to how much it costs to travel in the USA.
• Finally, if you want a book to read, check out this guide to 300 of the best scenic highways and byways in the United States for some inspiration.

Please note that this blog post is for guidance only and should not be taken as any form of legal advice. Check local state and federal laws before driving in the USA to be sure you are safe and legal.